Even back in 2002 when “Big Fat Lie” was printed in The New York Times, it had already been 30 years after Dr. Atkins published his book “Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution”. The data supporting fat as being a superior nutrient to sugar and carbohydrates existed prior to Dr. Atkins and there is much more support for this today. Over the years, there have been many more documentaries, articles, research papers, interviews etc…supporting this fact. Yet despite this, no one with the power to make any change on a National level seems to get all this information. Brainwashed, money hungry, maybe just completely ignorant. Whatever, the reason, I am just fed up with the continued ignorance about nutrition that plagues this country.

The poppycock that has been ingrained into most people’ beliefs needs to be exposed for what it is. These quotes are fallacies.

“Non-fat food is healthy”

“Fat is Bad”

“Sugar is not fattening or deleterious to health”

“Fed Up” is a documentary film by Stephanie Soechtig, executive produced by Katie Couric and Laurie David. “Fed Up” is in theaters for people to see now and I am thrilled that this information is being shared with the public because it is part of a bigger outcry for justice and healthier food options that have been going on for a long time.

It is hard to go from believing sugar is a simple white harmless powder to trusting that it acts like cocaine once consumed but you will see the brain scan that proves it.

If you think fat is the culprit behind obesity and poor health, low energy levels, etc…think again. According to “Fed Up”, the main offender in this toxic mess is sugar and for many people the term carbohydrates, fructose or natural sugar are all synonymous with sugar.

Here is the disconnect, while the film names the food industry and the government as being responsible for the “sugar mess” we are in, Ms. Couric quotes the recommendations for sugar from the American Heart Association, huh? The recommended sugar intake for adult women is 5 teaspoons (20 grams) of sugar per day, for adult men, it’s 9 teaspoons (36 grams) daily, and for children, it’s 3 teaspoons (12 grams) a day.

Why? How? The film itself describes how sugar acts like cocaine in our brains. Why in the world would she do that?

Carbohydrates get metabolized into sugar. Every 4 grams of carbohydrates consumed converts into 1 teaspoon of sugar. So if we consume 50 grams of carbohydrates, this provides about 12.5 teaspoons of sugar. No need to add more! Most people consume more than 4 times this amount or over 200 grams of carbohydrates every day.

So think of “Fed Up” as a step in the right direction but it certainly does not tell the whole story. If you cut sugar and feel the difference in your moods, your energy, your weight and health…you may also want to cut carbs to get the best of these benefits.

Last week I asked the question, “should soft drinks be considered unhealthy”? I’ll let you answer for yourself. No matter what “soft” drink you imbibe today, it is likely filled with ingredients that you do not know is lurking in the recipe. Today, the main ingredient (about 90%) of the beverage is carbonated water. Five to 10% of its content is high fructose corn syrup, sugar or non-calorie sweetener, acid (lowers blood PH) and other additives gums, pectins, caffeine, flavors, colors, and preservatives like BHA.

WARNING: The information below may contain material that is alarming but definitely worth reading. The information gives you a better understanding of why it is important to understand what ingredients you actually put into your body.

3.High fructose corn syrupandexcess sugarleads to excess calories, increased weight and blood sugar problems like diabetes. Research studies also support a link with the following health hazards:

a.Pancreatic cancer:University of Minnesota conducted a study with individuals who drank approximately two regular sodas/day. The conclusion was that there was an 87% higher chance of having cancer than those who drank beverages without sugar/corn syrup.

b.Diabetes and heart disease:At the American heart association’s Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention Annual Cardiology Conference there was a presentation by a professor from the University of California, San Francisco who made the association of approximately 200,000 new cases of diabetes and heart disease/year with soda drinkers.

c.Immune system:sugar has also been shown to lower the immune system due to damage of white blood cells.

4.Artificial sweetenerscan lead to eating more because they do not provide the calories to signal to your body that it is satisfying your hunger. They breakdown to methanol and formaldehyde affecting the immune and nervous system and may even be involved in destroying brain neurons leading to headaches/migraines, nausea, abdominal pain, fatigue with an inability to fall asleep. Other associated symptoms include vision problems, anxiety attacks, depression, and asthma/chest tightness. Recently diet soda, like regular soda, was linked to a 50 percent higher risk of metabolic syndrome — a cluster of risk factors such as excessive fat around the waist, low levels of “good” cholesterol, high blood pressure and other symptoms.

5.Sodiumbenzoatecan throw off electrolyte balance. It is a preservative in many foods. The combination of sodium benzoate and vitamin C (ascorbic acid) in soda can react to form benzene. The major health effects of benzene include damage to bone marrow and decreases in red blood cells, leading to anemia. It can cause damage to DNA. Damage to DNA will contribute to aging and nerve diseases like Parkinson’s. Benzene is known to lead to cancer in both animals and humans.

6.Caramel colormay suppress the immune system and has been linked to increase blood pressure.

All these potential harmful effects of drinking a “soft” beverage seems kinda extreme when in actuality most of what you are drinking is water. If you are thirsty stick with water and flavor it yourself. Tea (hot or iced), V-8 or homemade lemonade are also good options. Any questions about what you are really eating and drinking, let me know and we can decipher it together.

Funny how the adjective “soft” describes non-alcoholic beverages in relation to “hard” alcoholic beverages. There is nothing soft about any soft drink in today’s world. The original soda may date back to the 13th century and consisted mainly of natural mineral water that came from springs. The original ingredients were much different, than today. It was consumed to improve health.

It was not until the 1800’s that soda water was created from “imitation” mineral water (sodium bicarbonate mixed with acid) and marketed by pharmacies as “medicinal”. An entrepreneurial pharmacist tried adding 2 stimulants to soda, coca leaves and cola nuts and this was the birth of Coca-cola. This timeline gives you a quick historical perspective, http://inventors.about.com/od/sstartinventions/a/soft_drink.htm.

Today, soda is hardly a beverage that would be considered “healthy” but should it be considered unhealthy?

Despite the information and the efforts to cut sugar laden beverages from our diets, half of Americans consume sugary drinks, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC), http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db71.htm. Highlights from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 2005–2008 are:

Males consume more sugar drinks than females.

Teenagers and young adults consume more sugar drinks than other age groups.

Non-Hispanic black children and adolescents consume more sugar drinks in relation to their overall diet than their Mexican-American counterparts. Non-Hispanic black and Mexican-American adults consume more than non-Hispanic white adults.

Low-income persons consume more sugar drinks in relation to their overall diet than those with higher income.

Most of the sugar drinks consumed away from home are obtained from stores and not restaurants or schools.

Just because a drink may be light, airy and refreshing (or so you assume), don’t get stuck in a soda rut, thinking it is harmless. The effects on your body are the same as eating a piece of chocolate cake. I am not just talking about fizzy beverages. I’m talking bottled lemonade, iced tea, fruit punch, Gatorade any beverage made up of sugar and artificially sweetened non-nutritive (zero calorie) products. Diet soda may be considered a healthy alternative to regular soda for those who have diabetes or weight problems. They are NOT.

There is nothing soft about “soft” drinks. They hit you hard. In my opinion, they are worse than alcohol in the sense that at least with alcohol, you, or others around you, can tell when you have imbibed enough. The symptoms are obvious. When you drink “soft” drinks, there are no quick symptoms telling you to stop. The long-term consequences on weight and health are undeniable and not easily reversed.

What are the ingredients in soda that compromise your health? Check it out next week.

Traditionally, when we think of sugar, we think sweet, white stuff coming from the sugar cane plant. Naturally sweet foods can be purposeful. Now, industry has flooded the food market with an excess of sugar from both natural and chemical sources.

In small amounts and in its natural state, sugar cane has many nutrients that contribute to good health;

When sugar cane is processed into sugar, it is stripped of its nutritional value. Sugar cane loses 93 percent of its chromium, 89 percent of its manganese, 98 percent of its cobalt, 83 percent of its copper, 98 percent of its zinc, and 98 percent of its magnesium. It is now practically nutrient less. Consuming pure refined sugar may also cause your body to excrete chromium, which, ironically, triggers sugar cravings. This mineral loss is typically what happens in the processing of many convenience foods, including bread.

Sugar, no matter what the source has many names and you may be surprised to find out where it is hidden. Sugars aka, brown sugar, dextrose, fruit juice concentrate, honey, maltodextrin, invert sugar, malt syrup, lactose, maltose and molasses. If you want a laundry list sit down while you go through it, it is quite a long list,http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/821596-257-names-for-hidden-sugar.

Many convenience foods that do not taste sweet are loaded with added sugars, and many busy people turn to these foods for quick meal options. Consider that peanut butter, jelly, bread, bologna, breakfast bars, granola bars, canned chili, and canned fruit in syrup all contain added sugar; so do fast foods such as pizza, sandwiches, and even breakfast items too. According to the USDA, a fast food cheese and bacon griddle cake sandwich has 9 grams of sugar. Some sweetened breakfast cereals contain as much as 15 grams of sugar per ounce.

Do you think of these foods as being sweet? Just check the label for yourself.

Grey Poupon

Pepperidge Farm 100% Natural Whole Wheat bread

Jif Peanut Butter

Bush’s Best – light red kidney beans

Progresso Dark Red Kidney Beans

Oscar Meyer shaved turkey breast

Oscar Meyer Ready to Serve Bacon

Oscar Meyer Hard Salami

Healthy Choice Split Pea & Ham soup

Powerbar performance bars

Aunt Jemima Original Pancake Mix

Aunt Jemima Whole Wheat Blend Pancake Mix

Desserts and sweet beverages pile on even more of the sweet stuff. You may also have more sugar in the form of soft drinks, candy, ice cream, cookies and cup cakes.

If you’re active and in good shape, you’ve probably been encouraged to load up on sugary sports drinks, and energy bars, before and after your exercise. Television commercials and programming also urge you to drink “sports drinks” after exercise, to replace the energy you burn. Guess what they contain? Have you read the ingredients? This is how fit people may end up with metabolic health conditions. No matter what alias they give to added sugars, when consumed they encourage us to prefer sweet foods as well as wreak havoc on blood sugar and insulin, appetite and fat storage especially triglycerides. If this makes you think metabolic syndrome, keep thinking. You are on the right track.

What Sugar does

The more sugar is pumped into food, the more sugar is consumed unknowingly. Sugar highs and lows intensify, metabolism becomes more imbalanced, setting you up not only for weight gain, but also for developing stomach upset, diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis and other diseases. Health is compromised no matter what. The food supply threatens the health of our children too. It used to take 15 to 20 years for a steady consumption of sugar and other sweeteners to trigger conditions like type 2 diabetes. Now we’re seeing type 2 diabetes in children as young as age 6.

This is important because if you are trying to lose weight and start your day with a bowl of corn flakes, it may trigger a full day of bingeing. If you try cutting fat by switching peanut butter for pretzels or pile the rice on your plate instead of taking a little extra protein or non-starchy vegetables, it is likely the wrong choice. For people who are not trying to lose weight, if you eat these addictive foods, you may be at higher risk for weight gain diabetes etc…

If starchy foods can trigger addiction, we must use this information to redefine what is considered “good” and “bad” food based on its actual effect on the body and not just because a food contains a certain nutrient. Read this, http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/262603.php as it describes the results of what happens when carbohydrates are consumed. The bottom line: After eating carbohydrates, blood sugar drops and triggers addictive eating behavior.

There are those who have tapped into understanding body cues and realize that they are vulnerable to sugar addiction but this study shows, it is not just sugar, carbohydrates can be equally habit forming. There are likely more foods than the ones listed that will cause addiction. So pay attention to what happens when you eat.

The best way to know if a food triggers addiction is to be aware of how you feel after eating the food. Tell tale signs are:

1. If you are hungry within an hour or so after eating,

2. If your energy is zapped, or

3.You get a sense from your taste buds that this is R-E-A-L good and you need to go back for more.

Eating a balanced diet, means eating from each food group at each meal. Steer clear of any food that fosters the physical feelings described from the three symptoms mentioned above.

Give up on cereal with milk for breakfast or pasta as a main entree for lunch, this is carb overload and may be creating a lack of self control as the physical dependence on these foods become greater. Choose a hard-boiled egg on Alvarado Street Flax bread or a Cobb salad for lunch instead.

As science evolves and we are better able to gain more of an understanding of what happens to the food we eat once it is digested and absorbed and how food can stimulate appetite, cravings or addiction, it seems sensible to make changes accordingly. Yes, for many years we have been told the key to health is to avoid fat but now we know better.

Certain fats and certain carbohydrates should be avoided but there are foods from both food groups that should be consumed everyday. Healthy natural fats that come from any protein sources, olives, avocados, coconut, seeds and nuts are nutrient dense foods that add value to daily meals without spiking blood sugar and triggering food addiction. Non-starchy vegetables and fruits that are low in sugar or some dairy products such as, Geek yogurt or kefir are healthy sources of carbohydrates.

Take the time to identify food triggers and uncontrolled eating, you are the best judge of how food effects you.

English: Various cells that participate in immune functions. Note that even though hematopoietic stemm cell, erythrocyte, maegakaryocyte and platelets are found in the blood, they do not participate in immune functions. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

How do you stay healthy and fight sickness? Your immune system, its’ job 24/7 is keep you well. It wrestles with fungi, viruses, bacteria, battles pathogens and any foreign invaders while cleaning up cellular debris. Sounds exhausting and it is, that is why as we age the immune system loses its steam. Nourishing the immune system will keep it strong and you healthy.

In order to consume all these nutrients, you must eat a variety of low glycemic fruits, a colorful assortment of vegetables, protein from whole eggs (The yolk has choline a precursor to phosphatidylcholine which helps repair cell damage.), fish and grass-fed beef (also contain more Omega 3 essential fatty acids) turkey, sources of arginine (pumpkin/sesame seeds and almonds/cashews) and glutamine (cottage cheese and plain 2% Greek yogurt).

Just because these nutrients are immune enhancing, does not mean excess amounts will be helpful. In fact, too much omega 6 fat, iron and vitamin E will actually have detrimental effects on your immune system. The same is true for some medications, such as antibiotics or corticosteroids.

Herb and spice supplements boost immune system and protect against aging too.

Curcumin, cloves, basil, garlic, oregano and ginger all ward of sickness and can specifically help in preventing colds and flu.

Reminder:

Avoid consuming products that have been shown to weaken your immune system like soda, alcohol and sugar (The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published results of a study that found lowered immunity for up to 5 hours after eating 100 grams of sugar or 3 cans of soda).

Fat is involved in nerve impulses, the production of brain chemicals and hormones (for both men and women). So when you avoid fat, risks for ADHD and many other brain health issues as well as eating disorders because the nerves, hormones and brain chemicals may not function correctly.

Fat soluble vitamins: A, D, E and K, along with vitamin B6 and B12 (abundant in red meat and fish) are important for growth, immunity, cell repair and blood clotting and so much more. If you’re not eating enough fat to for these fat soluble vitamins into your body, they will be excreted, and you may be at risk for a vitamin deficiency. Vitamin D deficiency alone has been linked to: